Help! I have no idea what im doing.

[jayden kolonne]

As mentioned I would recommend skimmer for now and add other filtration only to address issues.
I only use skimmer and GAC (2 tablespoons per 60 gal changed every 4 weeks), I use corals as main filtration and others methods as supplement when required.

I use GAC because I have mixed reef and it helps with coral warfare.
I also carbon dose, but mainly to promote bacteria that hopefully provides another food source for corals,

For parameters pick your salt and use that as your target. See how things progress and maybe change at some point.
I like TM Pro reef salt and use it as a baseline.

BRSTV is there to sell, so take what they say with grain of salt. Likely you will not need most of the items but there is nothing wrong with experimenting.

At the start water change will be enough, once it is not (months from now) I would recommend looking into TM AFR.
You can hand dose AFR daily or you can use a doser. It is easy to use and you can pay attention to the fish, corals etc…

Good luck,

What do you mean by 2 tablespoons of GAC, do you mean in a media reactor or in a bag? Sorry that's probably a stupid question, it's just that in freshwater we just add a bag of carbon. Sorry for my ignorance.

 

[Pod_01]

What do you mean by 2 tablespoons of GAC, do you mean in a media reactor or in a bag? Sorry that's probably a stupid question, it's just that in freshwater we just add a bag of carbon. Sorry for my ignorance.

Good question, I put it in media cup (the cup fits where the filter socks go), bag would work as well. I have it passive.
You can use reactor but that just complicates things (space, cleaning, extra pump etc…) and reactors can be aggressive or too efficient.

Hope that clarifies it.

 

[jayden kolonne]

Good question, I put it in media cup (the cup fits where the filter socks go), bag would work as well. I have it passive.
You can use reactor but that just complicates things (space, cleaning, extra pump etc…) and reactors can be aggressive or too efficient.

Hope that clarifies it.

Thank you! This is helpful, I think I will buy a reactor as it's only 50 bucks on Amazon for the phos-ban reactors, and I have low gph pumps from my fresh water stuff. Is there any other reactor you recommend? For the amount of fish I plan on putting in here, this doesn't seem like alot.

 

[jayden kolonne]

Thank you everyone for your help, I am learning alot.

 

[PharmrJohn]

You are asking some very basic questions and I think you need to do more research before you put anything in your tank, including water. Maybe someone will be nice enough to take the time to walk you through, but there is just too much information to cover IMO. I would start here and then come back with more specific questions if there is anything you don’t understand.

Thread 'The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium'
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/

Oh man. I SO agree. You need to study. Like it's a college class. I ain't kidding. I came back to SW after 12 years and basically had to start over. There are some really good articles on the forums that cover a lot. So start digging in my friend.

 

[Pod_01]

Is there any other reactor you recommend?

At the moment I use no reactor’s.

The ones I used in the past I found to be hassle (cleaning, space, pump issue etc…). They are all collecting dust in basement.

The media cup I use is this:

Just put GAC in, put it into socks holder, done. I do have Red Sea tank so not sure how compatible these are with other sump configurations.
My overall filtration is simple, just skimmer and GAC.
I have to confess, I do like to keep things simple when possible.

 

[jayden kolonne]

At the moment I use no reactor’s.

The ones I used in the past I found to be hassle (cleaning, space, pump issue etc…). They are all collecting dust in basement.

The media cup I use is this:

Just put GAC in, put it into socks holder, done. I do have Red Sea tank so not sure how compatible these are with other sump configurations.
My overall filtration is simple, just skimmer and GAC.
I have to confess, I do like to keep things simple when possible.

Unfortunately I do not have multiple filter sock holes, my sump only came with 1 7in hole.

 

[Pod_01]

Unfortunately I do not have multiple filter sock holes, my sump only came with 1 7in hole.

Just to clarify, I don’t use socks, fleece roller, fuge, algae scrubber etc…
My approach is that corals do all the heavy lifting/filtering and filter the water column.
I prefer for the food and fish poop (best coral food you can buy) to stay in the water as long as possible.

 

[Cool tangs]

Don't watch BRS or use this forum for the first few years of reefing(I know this forum was designed to help people but I personally find it more hindering when I was a newbie. I took a big break and have been successful since following my own journey and advise from one person to start with). Instead watch Jake Adams, reef bum, WWC. Parkers reef. Understand the fundamentals first believe me, reading these forums for advise will actually hurt you more in my opinion. Look at some ones tank and take note of what they do and try what clicks with you. Do a google of natural sea level parameters. I feel like this hobby becomes hard. because there is so much info and lots of advise, opinions floating about. BRS is more advanced knowledge and even then some of it you have to take with a pinch of salt. I enjoyed Randy when he did his investigates though. Again it's more advanced though once you understand the fundamentals then worry about the finer details

Happy reefing

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Don't watch BRS or use this forum for the first few years of reefing(I know this forum was designed to help people but I personally find it more hindering when I was a newbie. I took a big break and have been successful since following my own journey and advise from one person to start with). Instead watch Jake Adams, reef bum, WWC. Parkers reef. Understand the fundamentals first believe me, reading these forums for advise will actually hurt you more in my opinion. Look at some ones tank and take note of what they do and try what clicks with you. Do a google of natural sea level parameters. I feel like this hobby becomes hard. because there is so much info and lots of advise, opinions floating about. BRS is more advanced knowledge and even then some of it you have to take with a pinch of salt. I enjoyed Randy when he did his investigates though. Again it's more advanced though once you understand the fundamentals then worry about the finer details

Happy reefing

Well, I'm sorry you did not have a good experience with reef2reef, but I can hardly imagine how reading anything in this chemistry forum at reef2Reef will "hurt" anyone. It might boar them, if there is too much chemistry detail for their desires, but I ensure that everything is factually accurate and we strive to help anyone understand what is taking place, from beginners to experts.

 

[Cool tangs]

Well, I'm sorry you did not have a good experience with reef2reef, but I can hardly imagine how reading anything in this chemistry forum at reef2Reef will "hurt" anyone. It might boar them, if there is too much chemistry detail for their desires, but I ensure that everything is factually accurate and we strive to help anyone understand what is taking place, from beginners to experts.

Thanks Randy appreciate the feedback, I think you have a good point and I had never really thought of the other sections of the forum. I'm pretty keen to give them a read. I think personally at the start this hobby can be very overwhelming. So it's also important for people to understand that(see people get so critical at times). Keep things simple at the start as it can be a big info dump. Not make big changes because so and so said this way is better(we learn with experience in this hobby, slow and steady wins the race). But little do we know when we first start. I like to hope we improved our husbandry as we learn(or at least personally). Also I must say it was a bit of a loss when you left BRS personally. Have you ever thought about doing your own YouTube channel? I'm always open for others opinions. Personally I think I needed time to find my own path first before attempting to add value. I'm back now after a very long break. Hopefully this experience is better this time

Happy reefing

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks Randy appreciate the feedback, I think you have a good point and I had never really thought of the other sections of the forum. I'm pretty keen to give them a read. I think personally at the start this hobby can be very overwhelming. So it's also important for people to understand that(see people get so critical at times). Keep things simple at the start as it can be a big info dump. Not make big changes because so and so said this way is better(we learn with experience in this hobby, slow and steady wins the race). But little do we know when we first start. I like to hope we improved our husbandry as we learn(or at least personally). Also I must say it was a bit of a loss when you left BRS personally. Have you ever thought about doing your own YouTube channel? I'm always open for others opinions. Personally I think I needed time to find my own path first before attempting to add value. I'm back now after a very long break. Hopefully this experience is better this time

Happy reefing

lol, I think you have me confused with a different person. I am not the Randy at BRS. I have been advising people far, far longer than BRS has existed.

 

[jayden kolonne]

Well, I'm sorry you did not have a good experience with reef2reef, but I can hardly imagine how reading anything in this chemistry forum at reef2Reef will "hurt" anyone. It might boar them, if there is too much chemistry detail for their desires, but I ensure that everything is factually accurate and we strive to help anyone understand what is taking place, from beginners to experts.

As someone who loves all science, especially chemistry, I think that this page is really helpful to people like me, however there's alot of information as well as variation and it's hard to navigate, which leads to the best part of this website, the ability to post your own questions. I found everyone's awnsers who replied really helpful and pointed me into the right direction.

 

[GARRIGA]

Go befriend a LFS and don’t forget to spend while at it. They might also offer a service for getting everything started. Just research them and make sure you find one knowledgeable and not trying to sell snake oil. Reviews and host posting on the local sub forums might help. Best of all. Join a club plus tons of videos on YouTube as that’s often more enjoyable then reading.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

As someone who loves all science, especially chemistry, I think that this page is really helpful to people like me, however there's alot of information as well as variation and it's hard to navigate, which leads to the best part of this website, the ability to post your own questions. I found everyone's awnsers who replied really helpful and pointed me into the right direction.

For general learning, stick to the stickies in most of the forums.

 

[jayden kolonne]

Go befriend a LFS and don’t forget to spend while at it. They might also offer a service for getting everything started. Just research them and make sure you find one knowledgeable and not trying to sell snake oil. Reviews and host posting on the local sub forums might help. Best of all. Join a club plus tons of videos on YouTube as that’s often more enjoyable then reading.

I prefer online, it's cheaper for the same thing and you can read the reviews from 10s or 100s. I also found a good fish seller called exotic marine life. They seem good.

 

[jayden kolonne]

For general learning, stick to the stickies in most of the forums.

??? What does this mean?

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

I already have water and 3 damsals that have been in here for 3 months. I want to know about putting carbon in there and gfo, I probably should have been more specific, I heard that gfo takes out phosphates but then you need to add it back. I watched yt videos but it would be easier of there was a list of basic things I need. I also know corals need calcium to grow and I'm not sure what the number is or how to reach it. Sorry if the questions I asked was obvious I just was trying to learn from people with experience .

Stay away from GFO unless your phosphates are high and stay high. You can end up bottoming them out and causing more issues. Thats something you want to take care of down the road. Do you even have test kits? There are 4 you must have. Nitrate, Phosphate, Alkalinity (KH), and Calcium for a reef tank. I assume your cycle must be complete by now? Three months is more than enough time to get through a cycle.

Read articles here about the basics- test kits and what they mean, the nitrogen cycle, lighting, flow, and "must have" equipment. An RODI is a must have piece of equipment for a 125 for making saltwater. Skimmer is a good idea but not essential. If you want to keep coral, flow is very important for nutrient movement through the tank as well as preventing some types of algae growth. This is accomplished with powerheads or pumps in your tank such as an mp40 or other various proven pumps.

What is the UV light for? Do you have algae issues? You dont need to dose anything until your tank is filled with coral. Even then, if you only have soft coral, you don't need to dose much of anything.

One step at a time. Tell people what you have and what you do not.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

??? What does this mean?

It means look at the sticky threads.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

(And fwiw, this thread belongs in the "New to..." forum)